This is Andrew Hovell's blog. He lives in Northern England. He plans for a living. He likes tea

November 29, 2007

This week I did my last two significant creative briefings. One was especially fun, since the biggest chunk of stimulus was the funniest interview I've ever seen. I'm sort of pleased with both, it seems like there's lots of potential and they'll totally lock out the rest of the market. Probably wind them up too.

But in both cases there was no blinding flash of insight. It all sort of came together in a fuzzy mess that got less, err, messy. And what I find a bit bonkers is that I had both puzzles solved over a month ago, I just didn't know it. All that time talking, thinking, gathering stimulus and doing funny mind maps didn't get answers, they just sort of helped them to be articulated properly. Does that make any sense?

Psychologists have shown that when human reflexes make them move, your body has sort of decided to do it before you have. You've made the choice, now you have to explain to yourself why. I think lots of strategy is like that. Somewhere in the gut you already have a pretty good idea of what to do, you just don't quite know it yet.

I'm afraid it still requires lots of work for it bubble up to the surface. And I guess it's why some planners never entirely switch off. They're having this odd internal conversation with themselves. They're taking in new information all the time and connecting it to what they know without realising they're doing it.

That's why I really annoy people sometimes. They'll be happily telling me something and I'll be listening with genuine interest - but then they'll see the eyes go all glassy and they'll know I'm somewhere else again. Drives them (and me) mad.

Of course the catch is that when you try to do it consciously you can't. If you play sport you'll know what I mean. I used to know some swimmers who swam beautifully in the heats, but then choked in the finals. When the pressure was on, they began thinking about what they were doing, and found they couldn't swim as fluidly as before. It happens it tennis when a low ranked player falters in the home straight against one of the stars. They realise what they're doing. They choke.

We won't cover the pros and cons of groups, but you'll come across them at some point, like it or not. It may be useful to know what to expect.

We won't cover the skills you'll need to uncover true insight rather than mere information. That's covered elsewhere, and there's no better place to look than Truth Lies and Advertising by John Steel.

We'll look at the art of how to manage the group itself. It's a lost planning skill which is a shame. I think that every now and again, you should do your own. It saves a fortune if you're pitching and there's nothing like meeting real people face to face.

In any case, if you have a better idea of how groups work, you'll be much better placed to work with your researcher.

But it is terrifying if you haven't done it before. So do as many internally as you can. Bribe people in the office with sandwiches, do whatever it takes. It costs a lot to get 8 people in a room, you don't want to waste that money. So get half good.

So we'll cover the key skills of moderating, interviewing skills and group dynamics. Then it need never happen.

Basic interviewing techniques

If you ask a simple question, you'll get a simple answer. Qual is about depth, digging underneath what people say and do to understand why. Simple direct questioning never gets under the skin of the issue. And people rarely say what they mean. They overclaim, and the real attitudes are usually unconscious and difficult to put into words.

So good interviewing is about ACTIVE LISTENING. Constantly thinking about why people are saying what they are, looking for contradictions, reading body language. It involves constant probing. Here's some rules of thumb:

Reflect and echo what they've said. This will show empathy and relax people.

Paraphrase and summarise what people have said in your own words. It allows you to check you've understood what people have said - if you allow them to correct you.

Meta commenting - expressing what you believe is going in the group is great for drawing out bigger themes.

How you behave is crucial. You'll develop your own style - some are bossy and challenge, others are calm, warm and open. But common traits of good moderators tend to be transparency - appearing honest and truthful, being non-judgmental and interested in what people think and showing as much empathy as you can.

Help people articulate what they're saying. Prompts where you can to get more out of them - repeat the bit they said that's interesting to get more (fresh garlic you say?) And get clarification....."You think that because..." "I'm interested in why you say that.."

And body language helps getting out more - lean forward, look quizzical, nod as they speak.

But use 'Why' sparingly - if you keep asking people to justify what they're saying you'll just piss them odd and they'll go cold on you. Consider replacing it with, "How come?" "Why do you think that is?"

You can really open up a line of questioning by slowly and gently asking things like, "i wonder what was in your mind when you said that?" But you can change the pace and finish off question with more closed versions, like, "So what's the main benefit?".

Group Moderating

To me it's a mix of two roles. One one hand you're a detached neutral observer collecting data, but on the the other, you're a dynamic problem solver wanting their help. It's a neat trick to be detached AND sponge like, but no one said this was easy. Much of it comes down to group dynamics.

November 28, 2007

When I move I'm going to be very busy trying not to fail - plus it will be Christmas and stuff. So I'm going to try to finish that to-do list of planning things before then. I could put it off, but let's take the path of most resistance shall we?

That means covering:

Moderating groups

Media neutral planning

Your role in the creative process

Brainstorming (controversial but what the hell)

Measuring effectiveness

Other qual like depths, friendship groups and accompanied tasks

I've got until Friday December 14th. It's a lot to do. I'll divide my time. But just in case it goes swimmingly, is there anything I've missed that you really want to see covered?

November 27, 2007

If there is a national meal in the UK these days, it's a good curry. And believe me, no one likes it more than I, indeed when we go out with friends for an Indian, I'll make sure I'm sat next to the person that eats like a bird so I can pinch some of theirs.

But I've always wondered why someone doesn't make more of the true culture around food from the subcontinent, as opposed to the British, and largely unauthentic way it's made, served and portayed here.

You can't blame those first restaurant owners back in the 1970's if course. They couldn't get the right ingredients then, and they had to find something to accomodate the virgin British palate. And foodie culture didn't really exist. It's a bit different now.

These days you can't move for chefs' cookbooks. More and more people cook with chilli and every other spice you can think of. Not to mention the sheer complication of it all - be healthy, be natural, be organic, be ethical. And authenticity really matters. Some people I know would die of shame if they were found to have balsamic vinegar that wasn't from Modena (dear oh dear). And somehow you have to fit all this into your ever busy life.

And actually, proper Indian cooking fits, since there's no such thing. It's too rich for that.

There is no such thing as real Indian cooking, it's too complex, too geographical. What you eat depends on caste and region. And it's steeped in a rich history. It was mostly vegetarian before invasions from Persia, The Mughul Empire and others introduced meat. And the recipes have constantly evolved.

Some things that have remained constant are the way food has always been integral with the culture. Apart from the festivals, the family meal is usually a three course affair, attended by all. Recipes are handed down the generations, learned by osmosis. They are rarely written down. One the main ingredients of a samosa is laughter. You can taste the love and joy in every single bite of the proper stuff.

And it's light and healthy too. The restaurants have to use lots of oil to keep the vats of sauce relatively fresh over a long night. When it's done properly, it's light on the stomach, the spices are subtly put 'under' the taste, as opposed to throwing them in at the last minute. And traditions matter, you don't mess with the old ways. And in the end, it's always been about quality ingredients first and foremost. And Mum knows best.

Even ready meals are nothing new. Back in Bombay, the Tiffin Wallahs do an early morning round and pick up the food the women have been lovingly preparing. They put them in 'Tiffin boxes' and bike them all over the city so the men have proper food for lunch. And for every six million that get collected, only one meal fails to get delivered.

I'm going on, but it's just that all these threads ad up to something that should fit very well with a food culture that's increasingly looking for authenticity, health and aching to tap into rich, authentic traditions. Food with a proper story.

And it tastes amazing too. I don't know where to go this, just thinking out loud.

There was another incident today. Only inhuman reflexes, the same that took a a set off Tim Henman, enabled Stuart to avoid a gout of boiling hot coffee scalding his genitals. No chance of suing me though, I've a watertight defense.......

It wasn't my fault. As I plunged my caffetiere with abandon, a hairline crack in the glass gave way and it shattered - the force of the plunge sending the entire contents flying at Stu's man bits. Proof that I'm not clumsy, I'm unlucky.

I've been pondering the unlucky core of my fecklessness before. Now I know it IS a curse. Stuart is obviously blessed though. His reactions were worthy of Neo and Morpheus.

November 26, 2007

So it's a matter of weeks until I move jobs. I'm in that funny limbo period when I'm mentally half out the door. But there's still work to be done.

Some of the stuff I'm working on will be finished by another person, but I'm glad I'll get to see one or two things through. It's nice to want to care.

You also notice things more when you're about to leave a place. Some things seem far more special than they have done for a while......and you get less patient with little niggles too.

And of course, after the initial euphoria, as the day draws closer, reality sets in, and a few nerves. There's the 'Will I be good enough?' worries of course - which is good. Fear raises your game.

No, it's the 'What will it be like?' questions that creep into the front of my brain. Gossip is the social glue the keeps organisations together. I won't be a part of that at first. And there are all sorts of unwritten rules in offices that you learn through osmosis. That will take time.

And what will people think of me? I'm usually the shy person in the corner of the room that no one notices. Will they get that I'm a wallflower? What are they expecting?

So I'll keep my head down, keep my mouth shut and listen and learn as I go along.

November 23, 2007

I've been meaning o post about Sainsburys for ages. I don't usually do reviews of other people's work since others do it so much better, but this one's worth it. It's great thinking that starts framing a brilliant strategic objective that fed right back into the commercial hardline. Don't get me wrong, I really admire stuff like Cadburys but I get a little perturbed at the industry masturbating over stuff like that and overlooking great thinking like this. It deservedly won the APG Grand Prix, but is dismissed by many as it's not creatively ground breaking. And quite right - it's there to work bloody hard.

Before I explain a bit more, cast your mind back to the time Sainsburys was on its knees. It was in danger of not just falling behind Tesco and Asda, but the bastard love child of the Morrisons/Safeway merger too. I was doing APG courses at the same, and a couple of tasks were to do with 'How would you turn around Sainsburys'?

Now lots of wise planners shook their fists at AMV and berated them for not going back to it's core 'food hero' role. That's what the brand meant to people didn't it? That's all you have to do surely?

No! Sainsburys was in a bad way. There was no point pushing shiny foodie ads when they couldn't even get the right things on the shelves. Sainsburys customers are fiercely low - they WANT Sainsburys to be good. They were being very patient, but any sign that the retailer was taking its eye off getting the fundamentals right would have resulted in them leaving. No one is that forgiving.

Once they has their house in order, it was time to start again. NOW. Once their was a good product to talk about. But just reinforcing the 'food hero' positioning wouldn't be enough. The city was demanding a steep rise in profits. The work would have to be commercial like nothing else.

And so we get to the best piece of thinking I've seen in an age. They needed to jumpstart a process that would increase profits by about two and half billion over two years. That's huge. It's bigger than the value of most brands you will ever work on. And this is what they did.

They started working out what that really meant. And they found that they didn't need to attract new customers, they needed to get more out of the ones they had. About £1.50 per visit. That's not that much, that's not too scary, that feels do-able. And you know what, they just about did it. The next piece of thinking is really nice, but this piece of pure commercial reasoning takes my breath away. It's a brilliant re-framing of the objective. It's a credible goal everyone can work to. Creatives, the Sainsbury board, every member of staff.

Then came the blindingly brilliant statement of the obvious. People sleep shop in supermarkets. They walk around in a bit of a trance. A trance they had to break. And here comes the foodie bit. Back in the 80's those menu ads were fine - people needed to be taught how to cook good food. Now we have a more more advanced culture. Foodies are always on the lookout for new ideas. They need to feel like they're constantly moving forward and trying new things. That's a lot of pressure.

Look at the mountains of un-opened cookbooks in friend's houses for evidence. Sainsburys, the mid-market food mecca could encourage people spending a little more by giving them failsafe tips. It's right at the heart of the emotional logic of the brand, it's so coldly commercial it makes your eyes bleed, and it lends itself to whatever media and promotions you want. And it's a role the newly acceptable Jamie Oliver could lead with real credibility.

So there you have it. Hat's off to AMV. Well played for knowing when to unleash the brand, for knowing that brilliant advertising can be brilliant by being useful rather than entertaining, it should be inextricably linked with a commercial objective - and doesn't need to be a gold to be something we should all admire through gritted, envious teeth.

It's tomorrow (forgot to do this earlier, sorry Mark). I can't go thanks to living Up North but you should if you can.

In his own words:

Hi Andrew,

Hope you're well. This is a bit of a long shot bearing in mind the distance and the ungodly hour, but I thought you might conceivably be interested in the following - would be great to see you if you can make it.

Winning pitches with personality types - 22 November

I'll be discussing the Enneagram system of personality types, with Rebecca Caroe who specialises in new business development for agencies. We'll be looking specifically at the application of the Enneagram to pitches - but I'm hoping that the implications for communication, collaboration, managing and developing people will also become clear.

Further details are attached (Download winningpitches.pdf ) Please feel free to pass this on to any colleagues or contacts who you think would find it of interest.

If you would like to know more about the Enneagram of personality types, you can download my free e-book 'An Introduction to the Enneagram' here.

November 20, 2007

If you haven't read Mark Earl'sHerd yet, you should. It's about time someone wrote a planning-ish book that argued for a new approach that was more than a long creds document.

And being a geek, I found the first bit fascinating. He uses science to argue that humans are social creatures buy nature, individualism is just another smokescreen. We con ourselves (in the west that is) into thinking we're more different than we really are. Of course this has implications for marketers, but I want to talk about how it makes us useless at learning from others.

Human beings are doomed to repeat the mistakes they, and other people, have made time and time again. We never learn from our own folly, thanks to our memory being too selective - and this sense of 'I' rather than 'We'.

Our memories do not tell us the truth. And other people's recollection is just as post-rationalised. There's only one option.

This applies to research as well.......You only get a reliable account from people GOING THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE - but guess what? We won't listen to that advice. We're so sure we must be different to everyone else, we can't bring ourselves to believe our experience will be the same as theirs.

It's true to say that everyone is an original of the species. Everyone's DNA is about 0.1% unique. But that also means we're 99.9% alike. However much you try and convince yourself, you're really not that special!

The fact of my feckless, clumsy, absent minded tomfoolery will come as no surprise to people who pop here now and again. From locking keys in cars to spilling hot tea on my privates, it all happens to me. Frequently.

But sometimes I think most of comes down to bad luck. Like this weekend, cycling to the butchers.

4 miles there, mostly downhill to pick up some of the best sausages in the universe. So far so good.

But there was a problem coming back - the seat had come loose and suddenly shot down to it's lowest point, I lost my balance and fell off in a passable impression of Colt Seavers in the Fall Guy.

This meant cycling all the way back standing up, mostly uphill, with two pounds of meat in my rucksack. My legs haven't recovered yet.

November 19, 2007

You should wantch this presentation from nine year old James. It's from a special edition of Dragon's Den for Children in Need, where young people pitch their idea to the hardbitten suits.

His idea is to encourage children to look out for lonely kids and befriend them - and offer prizes in return. It may have been done before, but that's not really the point.

This very young man is tapdancer, and understands how being different can stop you making friends. Look at how he delivers it, think about how being all nice at that age can mean other kids will shun you,admire his bravery and I challenge you not to feel a lump in your throat.

November 16, 2007

Late night, early mornings, other people (clients) in charge of your career, no stratospheric pay, childish trade press.

Why would anyone in their right mind want to join agency? Here's why I have, and will stick around for a little while longer. The passion that bleeds from every pore.

I've shared the agony, the ecstasy, I've shed blood, sweat, tears and other bodily fluids too. Along the way I've shared the passion too. I love the way this industry fiercely cares about what it does. Of course it should pay attention to it's place in the grand scheme of things a little more - but I love the way this game passionately goes about it's work, the way it likes to argue with itself over this theory, that process, that ad, that idea.

We all know there isn't one answer, but that just makes it more interesting. There's stuff to really believe in, get inspired by, or voilenently fall out with.

So I've been given this new mobile phone from work. It's this long slim Nokia. I didn't want it, but there you go....

Now the first thing I don't like is the operating system, I'd grown used to Sony, this feels strange. If the manufacturers want you to switch, I wonder how they could ease this transition.

But what I really don't like is the way it FEELS. It's too thin, too insipid, to insubstantial. I wonder how useful marketing phones could focus on how they feel rather than how they look. A bit like the way you pick up and feel lots of pebbles for skimming before you decide on one that feels OK.

And while I'm at it, I always drop mine, rubber to help me grip it would be nice.

November 15, 2007

It does get a bit mixed up though, since most of how it will go on the day depends on what happens before it.

To start with, it's paid off when I've found out as much about the people I'll be front of as possible. If it's a pitch, do everything you can to meet them prior to the big meeting. Like we said, you need to tailor your agenda to that of the people you'll be talking to. That goes for the style of the slides you'll put together, the props you might use, the way you dress and even the way you think you might behave in the meeting. You can't change who you are, but you naturally show different bits of yourself to different groups of people all the time.

Like the way I speak in virtual code with my oldest friends, who will never take me seriously since they know me best....but for some reason the odd person at work thinks I'm grown up sometimes, and even listens to some of the things I say.

I made a fatal error around a year ago in a pitch. We 'd only seen the marketing director, not her board who would be there. She was bursting with ideas, full of oomph. So I put together something that was set at that frequency. Only to find it totally rubbed up her starched collar bosses who took in nothing we say since we hadn't done any 'powerpoint' - lots of words on lots of slides.

I have a completely different relationship with the Chief Exec of my biggest client next to the marketing director - and behave accordingly.

And you cannot get out of doing the work.

Some people are lucky enough to have bags of confidence and wing it.....but they always risk looking a little 'slick'. Most of us have to work really hard to have any hope of looking any good up there. Here's some things to always try and do:

Know what you're going to say inside out. I find writing a leave behind - or writing the actual speech forces me to know it all back to front. That gets me out of doing slides that act as prompts for me, they add to what I'm saying, dramatize it in some way.

That's really important since it allows me to flexible, judge how the meeting's going, allow for questions, leave stuff out, emphasizes different things. Working harder beforehand makes me more human in the meeting in other words. And that's really important since no one wants to talked at, they want to interact. The more the whole thing ends up as conversation, the better. There are exceptions of course, some people will sit in silence until the end. But in most cases. the more you can allow for THEM wanting to talk too, the better.

Another trick to use is presenting to other people. Poor Mrs NP gets it in the neck with this. She knows more about some of my projects than the rest of the team, since she has to listen to every presentation. If she gets it, since she's totally fresh, I know I'm on to something. AND, there's a weird part of out psychology that makes us incredibly empathetic. You may have noticed that sometimes you force people to listen to a really great song - but they don't like, and it sounds different to you. That's because you're listening to it through THEIR ears. A similar thing happens in presentation. You suddenly know if something is too long, if a picture is lame etc. best to know that before the day!!

And think hard about any props you might want to use. Just like the slides should complement what you say - can anything else help you drive it home? What stimulus? Film works great of course. I love the story of the Dove pitch, when they convinced the board that women wanted realistic models by showing interviews with their own daughters. When AMV convinced Sainsburys that people 'sleepshop' they filmed people totally oblivious to a man stalking the aisles in a gorilla suit. When I wanted to convince a bed retailer that their customers relationships with their bed was actually moments they were AWAKE in it, i showed them their customer's own sketches of a perfect bed - in every case it was things that happened before you dropped, or after you woke up.

Now all that BEFORE stuff will help make DURING go as well as possible. When you plan that well, you know you're ready, you naturally become more confident. But there are things you can physically do during too:

:

1. Like we said, be a flexible as possible. The more open you are, the better.

2. Be yourself. While you modify your behaviour for different people, you should never be something you're not. I'm naturally shy, which plays into my favour as I come across as quite genuine. if I fake confidence, I look pompous and stupid.

3. Be passionate. Get interested in what you're talking about, if people see you really care about what you're seeing, if you like you believe in it, that's half the battle.

4. Be curious - the more you're interested in what THEY think, the better. Always look for feedback, what their side of the story is. Sometimes people ate bursting to talk to you, rather than hear anything you say. Let them - they'll love you for it. This works for nervous people like me, since I don't have to say too much. Speaking last is a useful trick - you have some argument, some opinion to work against.

5. Be grateful. Sometimes arrogance works - if you're that good, you can pull off an attitude that's about them being lucky to have you there. I'm not, and most are not either. If you look like you're happy for the chance to be there, you show some humility and deference, the better.

And there are some physical things you can do - largely around removing barriers between you and them. The more you form a unit with them, the better.

Break the ice. How you do that is up to you- I'm useless at small talk, and I'm not very funny, but if you are you're lucky. So I start taking the piss out myself as soon as possible - or show something entertaining from popular culture they'll like that sets up what I'll talk about.

Use your eyes. The more eye contact you make, the more you'll get them to trust you.

Include everyone. Don't just talk to people who you consider important - you don't always get it right. And in some cases, the chief exec's PA can be the most important person in the room.

Mirror body language. Invaluable for pulling, so they tell me, but also for this stuff. It puts people at ease. They won't know why they like you, but they do.

Talk slow......you always talk faster than it sounds in your head. Slow it down. And speaking slightly slower gives an illusion of gravitas.

Now all this level of preparation should help confidence, and being nervous isn't all that bad anyway. The rest will come with experience. So every chance you get to practice, I suggest you use it. The most unimportant thing you can find is a good start, or a little chunk of a bigger presentation. The more yo do, the better you get.

November 14, 2007

You would expect me to support Ben's plea for a decent cup of tea when he visits other people's offices. And if course I do. But not just because a decent cuppa makes my world go around (which is does - simple I am).

You can tell a hell of a lot about a place by the way it makes tea for visitors. From the massive corporate company that serves drinks from the machine in those plastic cups, to another behemoth that still has the tea lady. Not to mention the nice little place that warms the pot and always has Jammy Dodgers.

These things really worry people when they start a new job too. is the money good? Fine. Will the work be interesting? Fine. Now, what's it like to work there?

Those little un-thought of things that shape the true fabric of your working day, like how do you get a good cuppa, really matter on the first day Of course you want your job description, your objectives and the background to the clients and all that, but what you really want is your bearings.

Where is ITdepartment? Are they human? What buttons do you press to get them to fix your frozen screen? When do people tend to leave the office - is a presenteeism type place? Where do people go for lunch (do they take one?), where are the gossip hotspots? Who are the people in traffic it's best to make friends with? Is there a sandwich van in the morning? Who knows all the gossip? What are the little cliques?

And so on. These are the kind of things you forget about in a place you're used to - you only appreciate their worth when you have to learn them all over again.

Speaking of office gossip............

You don't want any needless nastiness, but as long as it's relatively good natured, gossip forms a kind of corporate glue, allowing pockets of people to bond. It also lets people give off steam in more benign way, instead of bottling it up and exploding all over your career.

it does make me wonder if excessive emailing rather than chatting is eroding how gossip acts as a pressure valve. Any thoughts?

Anyway, any job interview that involved stewed tea from machine would see me leg it out of there as fast as my short shins could carry me.

November 13, 2007

One of my many shortcomings is a chronic sense of direction (Which didn't really help back in the days of working on a supermarket - desperately searching for the new store sites that were not even on the map).

But it's turned into a funny kind of strength. Everybody gets lost from time to time, and when that happens I'm the man you want in the car. I'm so used to it now that, when everyone else is panicking, there's me with this zen like calm....cool as cucumber.

(I knew I'd get to use this picture eventually)

These days I just get to the general area and, somehow if I drive around enough, the destination appears. Like magic, or using The Force (or even chicken sexing?).

November 12, 2007

Went to a farmers market in Leeds last week. I didn't intend to go wild, but the stuff on offer was far too exciting. No need to feel faintly smug or moral, just very hungry.

You can go to one these things to support local suppliers, be organic etc if you like. And I think that's important these days. But to be honest, the food is so good and it's so wildly interesting, simply loving food is a good enough reason.

I ended up with:

6 buffalo sausages

Salami

1 pheasant

2 partridges

2 ostrich steaks

1 box of feta stuffed olives

2 calzone pizzas

2 pancetta pizzas

And I just resisted wild boar, a steaming sandwich from the hog roast and every cut of meat you can imagine.

There's so much great advice out there on this subject, I wondered if it was really worth doing anything on this. If I were you, I'd look at Russell's bits here and here if you haven't already.

So yes, there's lots of brilliant stuff about how to go about making a presentation GREAT - but there are not many basic guidelines on how to get started. And the more you put into working hard upfront, the easier it gets.

That's what I want to talk about. Don't expect any pearls about how to work with video, or wow the room (I wish I knew). Do expect some commonsensical starts. I think that'll be helpful for two reasons:

1. When you you start doing them you need to know where the hell to start. There are some easy ways to get you into flow of creating them.

2.I'm selfish. I've slowly died in too many bad, boring presentations to not do this. And some of these are made by very confident people who have reveled in their own magnificence and not taken to time to write, and say, a whole lot less.

First off, we'll have a look at how to go about creating one. Another time we'll look at some pointers on how to physically present - and how to put your slides together to help this.

So you know you have to do one. It's your first, you're a bit nervous and you don't know where to start. What you don't want to do is make the mistake I made first time. I'd seen enough to have a good idea that it's best to be succinct and not have tons of slides. So I thought it wouldn't take too long to do and left it until the last minute. Very stupid. I presented an ill thought out mess.

You really need to give yourself time. But that doesn't mean start off willy nilly either. It's not like a creative brief where it's maybe best to start and then improve as you go along. You need to be really sure of what you're going to say before you say it. The more effort you put into PLANNING what you'll write before you write it, the better.

I'll explain in a sec, but before I do, a word on design. I'll assume you'll be using powerpoint. If so, don't spend ages working on the style of the deck, finding the best pictures and generally making it look amazing.....at least not until you've decided what you want to say. You'll end up a Baywatch presentation - something lovely looking that has no interesting content whatsoever.

And don't start just bashing out lots of slides either - you'll end up with something far too complicated to have any hope of reducing it down again. It will be a mess, to quote Morecambe and Wise, "Singing all the right notes, not necessarily in the right order".

I do it another way. No presentation is merely a report. You want something out of it...the people you're presenting to do come out thinking something, and then doing something as a result. There will be some specific things you want to communicate to get this done. IN OTHER WORDS YOU WILL HAVE SOME OBJECTIVES.

There will be some key things about these people that mean you'll have to deliver in a certain way. Maybe they have some in built prejudices, a strong opinion, a way of thinking - there will be something. But they are a the barrier to you getting what you want out of your meeting.

Write down what you're objectives are. Write down what specific barriers the audience represent. It's turning into a creative brief isn't it? In fact, there is even a tone and manner. Of course you must be yourself, but the more you know about the kind of people you're talking to, the more you can tailor to them.

Then start putting down what you think you'll need to say to remove those barriers and achieve your objective. Suddenly you have an agenda to you're presentation, and the beginnings of a mind map.

Start looking at what links the chunks on the agenda together, what subject logically flows from one chunk to another. Magically you're running order starts to emerge. You nearly have a plan for writing your presentation.

But hold on. There are other things to consider. You need to start well and ending better.

For the end......Psychologists have shown that people remember the end more than any other bit of an experience.

So write the end first - the ultimate point you want them to leave with.

Now think about attention spans. It's really important to manipulate them, since they usually go like this:

Everyone's up for it at the start, they're listening, interested -primed. Then they slowly fade away.

So you need to get that vital info in the start, when you know they'll take it in. Make it engaging, start really well - with that big point, the interesting bit that will grab them by the balls.

Take them up a notch while you've got them- they'll take longer to come down. This is why I'm sometimes nervous about spending ages going over thinking before clients see the work - show the work when they're really up for it!

And look at you're agenda.....how you can throw in things that will keep their attention pricking back up? Hopefully people in your presentation will feel like the dotted line, rather than standard behavior:

Tell them what you're going to tell them

Tell them (interestingly)

Tell them what you've told them

Does that make sense?

Now, when you go about writing it, you'll have a specific blue-print to follow. It will make putting it together easy, and trust me, by holding off bashing out slides, you'll save loads of time and effort.

Which gives you more time make it look as good as possible, and know it inside out. And the more you know, the less slides you need, and the more spontaneous you';; look.

As we'll see next time, the trick of confidence isn't being a born orator, it's doing the work.

As far as the actual content goes, if you can write less do so. When you have a first draft it will be too long, condense, edit, precis. And if you can say it with a picture rather than words, do it. But we'll be tripping over into how to actually present if we go much further, so I'll leave it there for now.

November 08, 2007

There hasn't been much movement on that 'to do list' recently. This will be remedied very shortly.

In the meantime, those people who want to know what's happening with the Account Planning School of the web will be pleased know that the famous Paul Colman, now of Weiden and Kennedy, will be doing the next project very soon.

And in the meantime, here's a killer quote from Fred on the dangers of specialising: "To a man with hammer everything looks like a nail". Genius!

November 07, 2007

I've often wondered if gymns would keep their members for longer if they helped them to visit LESS. Like any relationship, it will stay fresh if you also do things with other people too.

I spend a fair amount of time doing fit, sweaty things. I actually like it, but even I get a bit sick of it sometimes. Sometimes those classes they do help, being around other helps, so does someone motivating you to keep going does too (but the So Solid Crew track in the last spin class I attended does not).

This week I cycled to the butchers, some of the hills were agony. But it was great feeling the wind in my hair (ha!).

I chopped down two trees in our gardens and I could hardly lift my arms by the end..

I got some lovely sunshine, a lungful of fresh air, time to think and the satisfaction of a job well done.

November 02, 2007

If you don't visit Gareth Kay's blog often you should. The last couple of months have been bursting with briliant advice. His better ways of working posts are essential reading in my book (that's a turn of phrase of course, I haven't actually written one).

November 01, 2007

It's Autumn, it's getting cold. Time for comfort food. And in my book, there's nothing better than a the a pot of Cassoulet, the lovely breadcrumb crust, the smell of garlicky beans, the intense flavour from slow roasted pork, duck and sausages.

Since the French can't agree where it originated, or even on a definitive recipe (they come to blows over the legitimacy of using breadcrumbs) there is no right way of doing it. What follows is the gleanings of trial after trial, and them made just a little bit easier.

This comes as close to my signature dish as they come, except maybe for salmon with tagliatelli.

This isn't a half hour recipe by a long chalk. There's a quicker version here if your in a rush. Even this isn't the absolute pedant's way of doing it, but it's good enough. It's still a weekend job though.

You can taste the care, the slowness and the rustic Gaulic charm in every mouthful. And you won't need many mouthfuls either - it's very filling. I wouldn't have anything other than a green salad with this.

The day before you want to eat it, roast your duck according to the instructions. Pour the fat into a jug (not a plastic one), let it cool and then put in the fridge. Once the duck has rested for half an hour, strip the skin and cut off all the meat - make it pretty big chunks. Put that in the fridge overnight. (If you fancy duck soup, put the carcass in a big pot, put a whole onion (peeled), three scrubbed carrots and a sprig of time and put over a low heat on the hob for four hours. Do not let it boil. Sieve the liquid into another pot, boil until it's reduced by a third, with whatever vegetables you fancy in it. I like leeks and carrots, plus a little shredded duck)

Next day, melt a spoonful of duck fat in the frying pan. Brown the sausages and put on a place. Then brown the belly pork and add to the plate.

Finely chop the onion and 1 garlic clove. Melt another spoonful of duck fat in a big pan and slowly fry them until they go translucent. Add the bacon and fry for 2 minutes.

Add the can/chopped tomato and bring to a simmer. Then add the two cans of beans. Throw in the other garlic cloves and slowly bring to the boil, then let it simmer for 30 minutes.

Two minutes before it's done, throw in the sausages and belly pork.

Put the mixture into a large, heavy pot and tuck in the duck you cooked yesterday. Stir it all so everything is evenly mixed.

Put the oven on at 160%c.

Blitz the baguette into fine breadcrumbs. Spread half on top of the mixture in the pot. Put the lid on and put it in the oven for 1 hour.

5 minutes before you take it out, melt two tablespoons of duck fat in a pan.

Take the pot out. Mix the breadcrumbs on top into the the mixture below. Make sure it's all even. Spread the rest of the breadcrumbs on top, then evenly pour the melted fat over it.

Put back in the oven with the lid off for another half hour...or a bit longer. When the crust goes golden and the liquid bubbles though the sides it's done.

Leave for 5 minutes and then serve. Don't have much at first, it will fill you up quickly.

It's best eaten with an intense french red wine. Chateau Neuf du Pape really works, or another full bodies Rhone. Medoc or Saint Emmilion are great too. On the other hand, a Leffe works great too.

I think Miller's 'A theory of shopping' is required reading for anyone interested in what motivates people as they buy stuff. The simplest purchase is laden with meaning and ritual.

I hadn't thought about this for awhile, but a few projects have reached some sort of critical mass and it's bubbled back up, espescially in the context of how couples slowly circle each other at the start of a relationship. You see, in most cases, shopping is an act of love

Shopping says for more about our relationships than we realise. We rarely have just ourselves in mind when we buy stuff - it's about love. From the mother who perseveres in finding the best food for her family, to the man who starts looking beyond his comfy clothes repertoire and looks for clothes that will make his partner proud to be with him.

And that can be tough love, like the main supermarket shoppers thanklessly trying to improve their clans. From the howls of protest from the grumpy children who cannot understand why they're being forced to eat fruit in place of a chocolate bar, to the husband who resists attempts to make him try more than his prized meat and two veg and eventually falls in love with all things spicy. Love can be tough, and much of it can be seen in the way we shop for each other.

It's similar to the way the wife of a man I know insists on ironing his t-shirts, despite his moans that he wants to wear them now. She loves him too much to let him be as scruff in public, she realises his workmates will think his attitude to ironing applies to his views on work.

But that kind of comfy love is preceded by courtship. The long, intricate dance of moving beyond the initial attraction to finding out how compatible you are - occasional sorties into working out what you both like, the achingly slow diplomacy that goes into deciding if, and how you'll live as a long term item.

Shopping is one of the main battlegrounds. It enables a couple to see if they will function as an item. There are obvious battlegrounds of course, choosing furniture for the first time, getting a car, or the agonising thrill of shopping for each other at Christmas for the first time. But most of the unwritten rules that govern how you'll go about this have been established in those early, innocent fumbles around the shops.

Apart from enabling couples to establish how they might behave together on things that will matter later on, it allows couples to flaunt their relationships to the world (and themselves for that matter). They can find common tastes, areas of compatibility, opportunities for 'improving their partner' and the no go areas.

It also allows them to conspicuously compromise on things, Make a big show of an effort to make the other person happy. Naturally, gender politics comes into play too. She's getting a feel for his his desires, he's trying to establish where he can have the final word. And most of this goes on without you even realising it.